Horace was born on February 22, 1898 in West Chester, PA. He never knew his father, and he and his mother moved to Goshen, New York to be near relatives. Horace was affected by his life in Goshen, and subjects that relate to there are often shown in his paintings. Being in a poor economic situation, Horace had to do jobs to keep the family going. One time one of his employers recognized hsi talent and wanted horace to go to an art school buthe had to care for his mother, who would die in 1911.(Extraordinary People of The Harlem Renaissance, 231)
Adulthood and Career:
Pippin volunteered for military service in WWI, and became part of the 369th Infantry, an all volunteer black regiment under command of white officers that was transferred to the French. Pippin was the squad leader of the most decorated American unit. Unfortunately, Pippin was shot in the shoulder, and thus his painting arm was wounded.
After Pippin returned from the war, he married a woman with a son but they fell on hard times, he and his wife both had to obtain jobs. There was much racial violence and hatred at this time, something which Pippin who had fought for democracy had trouble undertsanding. Pippin was angry that he could not draw his emotions due to his injury. Eventually, he remembered a form of art called pyrography that he had seen in Goshen, in which you would take a hot metal rod and burn it onto wood. Pippin had to do a special technique in which he'd support his right arm and move the board instead of the rod, but none-the-less his art look good and he began to gain strength, even being able to put paint over the boards. Pippin's main subject was home, especially things he had experienced. A wealthy art critic discovered Pippin's paintings, but Pippin never really got into the buisness, and he died in peace in 1946.
Quote:
"It has been said that Horace Pippin 'belongs to those naive painters who are devoted to fact as a thing to be known and recpected, but not necessarily imitated."
Horace Pippin
Early life:
Horace was born on February 22, 1898 in West Chester, PA. He never knew his father, and he and his mother moved to Goshen, New York to be near relatives. Horace was affected by his life in Goshen, and subjects that relate to there are often shown in his paintings. Being in a poor economic situation, Horace had to do jobs to keep the family going. One time one of his employers recognized hsi talent and wanted horace to go to an art school buthe had to care for his mother, who would die in 1911.(Extraordinary People of The Harlem Renaissance, 231)Adulthood and Career:
Pippin volunteered for military service in WWI, and became part of the 369th Infantry, an all volunteer black regiment under command of white officers that was transferred to the French. Pippin was the squad leader of the most decorated American unit. Unfortunately, Pippin was shot in the shoulder, and thus his painting arm was wounded.
After Pippin returned from the war, he married a woman with a son but they fell on hard times, he and his wife both had to obtain jobs. There was much racial violence and hatred at this time, something which Pippin who had fought for democracy had trouble undertsanding. Pippin was angry that he could not draw his emotions due to his injury. Eventually, he remembered a form of art called pyrography that he had seen in Goshen, in which you would take a hot metal rod and burn it onto wood. Pippin had to do a special technique in which he'd support his right arm and move the board instead of the rod, but none-the-less his art look good and he began to gain strength, even being able to put paint over the boards. Pippin's main subject was home, especially things he had experienced. A wealthy art critic discovered Pippin's paintings, but Pippin never really got into the buisness, and he died in peace in 1946.
Quote:
"It has been said that Horace Pippin 'belongs to those naive painters who are devoted to fact as a thing to be known and recpected, but not necessarily imitated."
<Art in the 1920's/ Home Page
· Precisionism
· The Harlem Renaissance
· Art Deco
· American Scene Painting